A labor of love
Merwin hopes new snowmobile track will help make sport safer
By Paul Schroeder
pschroeder@thebusinessnewsonline.com
It’s not often someone goes into business knowing they’ll likely
never make a dime. But that’s fine with Wausau’s Ralph Merwin. As
owner of 525 Sports LLC, he hopes to make the sport of snowmobile
racing as safe as possible – if only for one weekend a year.
“We started actual work on this the first week of July,” said
Merwin, 64, looking over 40 acres of the family farm west of Wausau
in the town of Rib Mountain. “This is like a two- to three-year
project and we’ve gotten about 12 months done in a six-month
period.”
The “project” is a third-mile oval race track (half-mile on the
outside) and site of the Wausau 525 race scheduled for Jan. 27-29
(www.wausau525.com).
Merwin knows a bit about construction, having built many commercial
buildings in the region the past 40 years as the former owner of
Consolidated Building Service. However, the snowmobile track is more
than another “project” for him. It’s a labor of love.
Still, some might find it strange that Merwin pours nearly every
waking hour into promoting a sport that took the life of his son.
“For me to do what I’m doing … I question it a lot myself,” Merwin
said. “After all, Philip was killed in a race, and now I’m doing a
race.”
Philip, or “Flip” as he was affectionately known, secretly competed
for two years before telling his parents. “He didn’t want us to know
because of the dangers involved,” Merwin said. “Then once he really
got into it, we helped sponsor him.”
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A new year — a new beginning
Former Weston administrator makes fresh start as consultant
By Ed Wodalski
ewodalski@thebusinessnewsonline.com
Dean Zuleger feels refreshed, energized and re-invigorated. His head
has stopped throbbing; the blood pressure is down, and he’s lost 20
pounds.
Since unexpectedly resigning as administrator for the Village of
Weston in October, he has found new life as strategist and problem
solver for Policy Dynamic Consulting LLC, a home-based company he
launched in mid-December.
While some might question walking away after 11 years from a
$123,000-a-year-job with full benefits and retirement plan, Zuleger,
50, felt he didn’t have a choice.
“When I originally came to work for the village under Vilas (Machmueller,
village board chairman, now deceased) I kind of told them I would
give them five years. And that turned into eight. Then when we lost
him, I committed with Fred Schuster (current board chairman) that I
would work a couple years with him. But the intent was not to spend
the rest of my career in government; it was to take some of the
business techniques that I learned along the way and apply them to
government.”
Still, resigning as administrator wasn’t easy, Zuleger said.
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People who make a difference
Walmart general manager responds to Rhinelander’s needs
By Betty Wall
bwall@thebusinessnewsonline.com
On call and ready to serve, that’s how Brent Sundby, general manager
at Walmart in Rhinelander, lives each day, and he feels great about
it. A volunteer firefighter with the Newbold Fire Department, Sundby
is a graduate of the Wisconsin Firefighter Certification Program
through Nicolet Area Technical College in Rhinelander.
“The Fire Department has most definitely been the most rewarding
organization that I have been involved with,” he said. “It is just a
great group of people, and the things that you do make a real and
immediate difference for the people you come in contact with. The
difference that you make there has the potential to be life-changing
and life-saving.”
In addition to his firefighting duties, Sundby served seven years on
the board of directors for the Rhinelander Chamber of Commerce,
completing two consecutive terms.
He organizes activities for the Oneida County Fair’s Family Land and
coordinated a fire department water fight for fairgoers. “It was
really fun,” Sundby said. “We really had a good time.”
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Growth Strategies
Weston’s RightAngle Ergonomic Products shows 20 percent gain
By Paul Schroeder
pschroeder@thebusinessnewsonline.com
Bill Knighton has a knack for observation. Back in 1983, he noticed
a growing trend among workers at computer keyboards — a pain in the
wrist.
“Carpal Tunnel Syndrome was virtually unknown at the time,” he said.
“Yet, companies were getting an increasing number of worker’s comp
claims.” Knighton’s observation led to the beginning of RightAngle
Ergonomic Products and a top-selling wrist support.
“We had a narrowly focused niche, selling products to prevent glare
on computer screens,” he said. “But we saw an opportunity to help
companies reduce wrist-strain claims by developing a product that
provided support for the wrist. We weren’t the first company to come
up with the idea, but we certainly were — and still are — leaders in
the industry.”
Now located in the Weston Industrial Park, Knighton and his father,
Warren, started work in the garage. The company incorporated in 1985
and expanded to a manufacturing plant in Wausau, purchasing the
facility in 1990. In 1996, Knighton bought out his father and
committed to aggressively pursue the ergonomics market.
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